Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss twins, is joining crypto-friendly bank Silvergate’s Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) to speed fiat transfers.
Real-time fiat money transfers
Gemini announced the move in an official blog post on Aug. 27. According to the announcement, the main benefit of the exchange’s partnership with Silvergate is that Gemini’s institutional investor clients can withdraw and deposit United States dollars from their accounts at any time. This is already the industry standard for cryptocurrencies, but not for fiat money, per the report.
Additionally, the announcement states that Gemini is integrated into SEN’s application programming interface (API). Integrating with SEN’s API reportedly enables Gemini to process their customers’ deposit and withdrawal requests automatically, in real time.
Silvergate’s growth in Q4 2018
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Silvergate gained almost 60 new crypto customers in the last quarter of 2018. Per the filing, Silvergate served 542 clients involved in digital currency, whereas it reported 483 to the SEC in September 2018.
In the more recent filing, Silvergate summarized the scale of the crypto market. The bank wrote:
“Over $8.3 billion has been invested in digital currency-related projects, excluding initial coin offering funding, since December 31, 2013. Approximately $1.3 billion in venture funding was raised in the digital currency and blockchain market in the 12 months ended June 30, 2018, which is the most recent date such information is available.”
Gemini’s expansion into Australia
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Gemini announced last week that it is expanding into Australia. Its cryptocurrency exchange and custodial services will be available for Australian residents via mobile apps on iOS and Android.
